Tire.



F. DEXTER.

TIRE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR-30,1914.

Patented June 1, 1915.

l,14l,62O9

I I f aw Inventor Attorneys FRANK DEXTER, 0F VISTA, FLORIDA.

TIRE.

Specification of Letters Patent Patented June 1, 1915.

Application filed March 30, 1914. Serial no. 828,339.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, FRANK DEXTER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Vista, in the county of Levy and State of Florida, haveinvented a new and useful Tire, of which the following is aspecification. i

This invention relates to tires, one of the objects of the inventionbeing to avoid the use of rubber in the construction of a tire such asdesigned for use in connection with automobile wheels, thus to avoid theexcessive cost now incident to the use of pneu-' matic and cushion tiresemploying rubber in their construction.

A further object is to provide a tire formed primarily of endogenousgrowths such as the palmetto or cabbage pahn (Sabal palmetto), the saidmaterial being arranged in segments with the fibers disposed alongsubstantially radial lines whereby the ends of the fibers are caused toengage the surface on which the tire is mounted, thus to preventslipping or skidding and at the same time producing a cushioning effectsomewhat similar to that resulting from the use of a properly inflatedpneumatic tire.

Another object is to provide improved means for holding the parts of thetire, it being possible to separately remove said holding means as thetire Wears away and Without removing the tire or the wheel.

With the foregoing and other ohjects in view, the invention consists incertain novel details of construction and combinations of parts and incertain novel steps in the method of treating the stock from which thetire body is made, which will be hereinafter more fully described andpointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention hasbeen shown.

In said drawings :Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a wheelhaving applied thereto a tire such as constitutes the present invention.Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse section through the tire and the wheelrim. Fig. 3 is a plan view of a pertion of the tread of the tire andshowing the relative positions of the segments maldng up the tire body.Fig. 4 is an elevation of a portion of one of the inner holding rings ofthe tire and showing the lap joint used in connection therewith. Fig. 5is a longitudi- I nal section through the structure shown in Fig. 4; andthrough the adjacent portion of the tire body. Fig. 6 is an elevation ofthe meeting portions of the mud ring forming a part of the tirestructure. Fig. 7 is a top view of the structure shown in Fig. 6. Fig. 8is an enlarged view in perspective of one of the fasteningelements usedfor holding the tire to a Wheel rim.

Referring to' the figures by characters of reference 1 designates themetal rim of the wheel, the same being formed at its inner side With anannular flange 2 constituting means for limiting the inward movement ofthe tire relative to the rim.

The tire is made up primarily of annular courses of substantially Wedgeshaped or segmental blocks 3 disposed in staggered relation as shown inFig.3 and held securely between rings 4, 5 and 6 which are disposed inpairs and are concentric. The inner ring 4 is designed preferably to fitsnugly upon the rim 1 and against the flange 2 while the outer ring l isspaced from the outer side of the rim 1 a sufficient distance to receivea tapered mud ring 7 which, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, is split and hasits ends squared and designed to abut. This ring 7 is designed as afinishing ring and to retain between the rim 1 and the inner ends of theblocks 3, a filling of hemp or other like fibrous material shown at 8and which serves as a cushioning means for absorbing shocks or joltssuch as produced by the tire striking obstructions in the path. thereof,The mud ring 7 is held'in position by elongated heads 9 provided at theouter ends of bolts 10, these bolts being extended transversely throughthe rin s 4 and the inner end portions of the adjacent blocks 3 andbeing screwed into holding plates 11 which bear against the inner ring 4and have lips 12 which lap the flange 2.

The intermediate rings 5 are connected by bolts 13 extendingtherethrough and through the adjacent blocks 3, each of these boltshaving i s head sunk into the outer ring 5 while its inner or threadedend 1s screwed into the inner ring 5. Furthermore, and as shown in Figs.4 and 5, the inner ring is split and has its ends lapped, as at 14:, oneof the bolts 13 being extended through the inner end of the lap jointwhile the outer end of the lap is engaged by the threaded end of thebolt. See Fig. 5.

The outer rings 6 are connected by bolts 1.5 similar to'the bolts 13,the inner one of the rings 6 being lapped in the same manner as is the.inner ring 5 and the lapping terminals of said inner ring 6 beingconnected by one of the bolts in the same manner as has been illustratedin Fig. 5.

With the construction described, it will be seen that the blocks 3 willbe clamped tightly together by the bolts and rings, and by having splitinner rings, the same can be removed entirely from theinner side of theWheel, it being possible to slip them off of the axle on which the wheelis mounted.

The efliciency of the tire is dependent primarily upon the material ofwhich the blocks 3 are formed and upon the method in which this materialis treated prior to being incorporated in the tire structure.

As hereinbefore set forth, the blocks 3 are preferably made out of thewood of the cabbage palm or palmetto, this wood being made up of astrong springy fiber and a considerable amount of pith which separatesthe fibers. The wood is out into lengths and then placed underconsiderable pressure so as to expel therefrom a large per cent. ofmoisture, thus bringing the springy fibers close together. The wood isdried preferably while under pressure and is then saturated with paiafiin or other suitable oily substance which fills the pores between thefibers and prevents the stock from absorbing moisture and increases itsdurability. By thus compressing the stock it becomes possible to readilyshape the same and after the various blocks have been produced in themanner set forth, they are assembled in annular courses and in staggeredrelation, the fibers of the blocks being extended along substantiallyradial lines so that their ends will form the tread surface of the tire.

It has been found in actual practice that, after the tire has been usedfor a short time, the outer end portions of the fibers will work apart,thus producing a brush-like tread surface which will grip the surface onwhich the tire is mounted and prevent slipping and skidding so that itthus becomes unnecessary to use anti-skidding devices of the varioustypes now employed.

As the fibers are of a springy nature, the

' tire has a cushioning action substantially like that obtained by theuse of a properly inflated pneumatic tire, this action being increased,by the packing which is interposed between the rim 1 and the inner endsof the blocks. The rings 5 and 6 give stability to the tire and, asbefore pointed out,

' can be removed readily when the tire becomes worn down to the rings,thus prolonging the life of the tire.

While the structure herein described is particularly designed as a tirefor automobile wheels and the like, it is to be understood that it willalso be found eflicient as a rim construction for pulleys and forvarious other like devices designed to frictionally engage an opposedelement.

While the blocks are preferably arranged in two or more annular coursesit is to be understood that if desired a single course of blocks can beused, this arrangement being especially useful in connection with lightwheels. Instead of using three rings 4, 5 and 6 at each side of thetire, one or more rings may be employed.

I make no claimin the present case for the peculiar method pursued inthe formation of the fiber blocks as this method constitutes the subjectmatter of a separate ap' plication to be filed by me.

What is claimed is The combination with a wheel rim having an annularflange at one side thereof, of a tire including an annular course ofblocks, inner rings upon the inner and outer sides of the tire, one ofsaid rings engaging the flanged end of the rim, a ring insertiblebetween the other one of the inner rings and the rim, a bolt extendedtransversely through the said inner and outer rings and having a headlapping said inserted ring to hold it in position, means engaging thebolt and lapping the flange of the rim to hold the tire againstdisplacement relative to the rim, and a packing interposed between theblocks and rim.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

FRANK DEXTER.

Witnesses:

THOS. J. NEARTY, CHAs. S. HILL.

